


Eat Your Greens

by SangriaKisses



Series: Invidia [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ChoKarui, F/M, Fluff, Ino-Shika-Cho Formation (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 16:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21431155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SangriaKisses/pseuds/SangriaKisses
Summary: She wasn't jealous. She was a strong, powerful Kunoichi, she didn't have the need for those kinds of emotions. This wasn't what this feeling was.  This was something else entirely.
Relationships: Akimichi Chouji & Karui, Akimichi Chouji/Karui
Series: Invidia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542310
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Eat Your Greens

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Here's the next installment of my Invidia series featuring Chouji and Karui. They are such a great couple and I wish that there was more content out there for them. It's pretty fun because we don't have a backstory for them no one can tell you your ideas are wrong lol. Enjoy!

It started when Chouji had returned from his week-long mission. This was the longest that he’d been away from Karui since she’d moved to Konoha and his absence was felt. 

Thankfully she’d become close to the Konoha girls, and they all made sure that she was okay while he was gone. They took her out so that she didn’t stay at home and sulk. 

Karui also made an effort to go visit his parents and took on some of his clan responsibilities while he was gone. His mother was so loving and kind and Karui knew how lucky she was. Temari had inherited one hell of a mother in law. Although she knew that the Sand Princess loved her new family. The Akimichi clan had been so welcoming and sweet to her since she’d started dating Chouji. They would love to tell her that she was too skinny and needed to eat more. They were good, kind and honest people and she could see why her sweet boyfriend was the way he was. She had also taken on missions that were easy enough given her skillset. This was just to keep her busy during the day and from worrying about how he was and whether he was eating. 

She had never been the type to be dependent on a man, often finding them annoying and tedious. Although, that was more related to her feelings about her old teammate. Even so, he’d become her safety blanket, warm and comforting. She missed his all-encompassing hugs, hearty laughs that could be heard down the hall, sweet kisses and constant affection. He was unlike anyone that she’d ever met before. His kindness and loyalty seeped from his very core. Even while she had rebuffed his early attempts to become close to her he continued to be far kinder and sweeter than she deserved. He remained there steadfast convinced that he was strong enough to break down those carefully constructed walls and in what seemed like very little effort knocked them down with a simple swing. She’d never been vulnerable, often relating such a feeling to weakness but she trusted him so much. To place that faith in him seemed like a sure bet. 

So when he was finally due to come home she’d worked all day in the kitchen preparing all his favorite dishes will love and attention. She enjoyed cooking for him. It was something close to being a meditation practice for her. She would be calm and focused on the ingredients and steps, her mind centered. 

“I missed you!” Karui laughed in surprise feeling her feet float above the floor as he pulled her into a crushing hug.

“You’re back!” She replied excitedly.

He smiled softly before meeting her lips in a kiss and that familiar feeling, was like coming home again. He was there, safe and sound.

“It smells amazing in here!” He grinned brightly at her before taking in the spread. He easily identified all his favorite dishes.

“You’re the best Sweetheart.” He thanked her kissing her cheek. 

“I’m just happy you’re home.” She replied, placing her hands against his cheeks her fingers tracing the familiar swirls needing to remind herself that indeed he was there. 

He took her hand in his placing a soft kiss on her palm. “I am too my sweet. Come on let’s eat.”

Surprising her he placed her on his lap an arm around her waist. “How do you expect to eat like this?” She teased him a light blush dusting her cheeks. He shrugged unbothered while chewing on a piece of shrimp.

“I haven’t held you in a week, nothing even my beloved food is going to stop me now.” He replied, causing her face to flush a deep crimson. She wondered if everyone who knew him as the sweet unassuming ninja knew how charismatic and flirtatious he could be. Actually, she was happy that no one else knew that side to him, that was meant only for her. He just grinned in response. She could still be so shy when it came to affection.

Their dinner was carefree and delicious. Their meals together were always her favorite. They shared stories about their missions in between bites of food. She finished long before him and just rested her head against his shoulder content to just be there in his arms. She listened attentively as he told her about his teammates a few names she could recall hearing before and other ones she’d never heard of.

“She made the most amazing food!” That statement made Karui sit up. 

“Really?”

“It was incredible. I’d never eaten anything like it. I told her that she could go become a world-renowned chef. She’d probably make more money that way too.” She sat there as he went on and on about how amazing this unknown kunoichi was. She had to bite down on the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from reacting. 

She wasn’t jealous, that was a childish emotion wasted on insecure girls. She was none of those things, but then why did her boyfriend’s gushing of some faceless ninja bother her so much.

Surprising her he picked her up and placed her softly on the couch. “Thank you for dinner Sweetheart. Relax and I'll take care of the dishes.” Before she could protest he kissed her cheek and made his way back to the dinner table. 

She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax her shoulders. This was nothing to get worked up over. So this girl was a good cook, so what? Chouji was just too nice and would be overly complimentary to anyone that fed him. This was just a one-time thing, it wasn’t as though they’ be paired up for missions again. 

Until they were and he once again came home starry-eyed about some dish that she made. Karui couldn’t understand how they could have so much time to cook and eat during missions. 

After this cooking became less peaceful and more competitive. She started pushing herself to improve upon old recipes and to try out new ones. She became annoyed and upset when they didn’t turn quite right. 

“Sweetie? Are you okay?” Chouji asked his girlfriend nervously as she aggressively scrubbed at a pan.

“Just annoyed by this stupid dish.” She snapped causing him to step back. 

“Can I help you?”

“No, I'm fine. Sorry. Dinner will be done soon.”

“Okay.” He walked over to her where she continued to fight the dish as though it had wronged her in a previous life.

“Hey, look at me.” She glanced up at him annoyed wearing that expression of irritation that he’d seen many times before, but rarely directed towards him. 

“I love you, sweet girl.” And it was enough to stop her aggressive movements and ground her back to reality. 

“I love you too Cho.”

After her little tantrum, she felt like she had gotten better in addressing her feelings. Convincing herself that she wasn’t bothered that her boyfriend enjoyed another woman's cooking, it was fine, she was fine. That is until she wasn’t.

She spent the day preparing and cooking up a feast for him as an apology for how she’d been acting the last week. It wasn’t his fault that she felt this way, it was her thoughts running away from her. 

He greeted her like he always did, capturing her in a big hug. Making her feel weightless as her feet hung suspended in the air before pulling her into a sound kiss. 

“Hope you’re hungry! I made some new stuff tonight that I've been working on!” She told him proudly with a bright smile. 

“Thank you, Sweetheart, you’re the best, but I’m actually full still. She made us a ton of food for lunch today, give me a few hours and I'll be good to go.” Karui felt her heart drop to her stomach. This wasn’t the response that she’d been expecting and every known, taught instinct within her was telling her to fight. To yell out baseless accusations and hate-filled sentiments but this was Chouji not some enemy of hers so rather than say anything she took a deep breath and walked out. 

Watching her leave he knew that he messed up. It wasn’t as though he’d meant to overdo it at lunch, the food was just too good. Staring at the untouched plates on the table he should have probably made a different decision. He took one spoonful of an unknown dish and it was unlike anything he’d ever had before but it screamed his beautiful girlfriend. This was a terrible feeling. She’d clearly put so much effort into this and he acted as though it wasn't a big deal. He’d noticed a shift in her this past week and he had a sneaking suspicion of what it was about. He’d seen the lightning appear in her eyes and was ready to defend himself but when she just turned away wordlessly it showed great restraint on her part. Part of him wished that she’d fought and yelled. Seeing her broken and emotionless hurt more than anything else that she could have thrown at him. He wanted to go after her to apologize and comfort her but it was like entering the heart of a lightning storm. Right now she needed time to process, he’d learned more about her than she thought over the years. So he remained there steadfast and ready whenever she was. 

Karui sliced through the air facing imaginary enemies, seeing talented kunoichi that thought it was just okay to feed other people’s boyfriends. 

Her katanas came down sharply at those images. Taking a break she sighed and breathed deeply. The rational part of her knew that he didn’t mean any harm by it and it was okay he enjoyed food from other people. The emotional side of her could care less and wanted to scream out loud “I bet you would have eaten it if _she_ made it.” This only increased her efforts as she continued to fight imagined enemies and herself.

When she returned home the table had been cleared and the dishes washed. Their home was perfect and pristine. Her favorite candle that he’d lit cast a warm glow and now she felt bad for her tantrum. Chouji was gentle and kind he didn’t deserve her temperament and shitty attitude especially when he didn’t know why she was upset.

She crawled into bed and he wordlessly pulled her into the safe recesses of his arms. She settled finding that familiar feeling of safety and peace.

“Cho...I….” He kissed her forehead softly cutting off her apology.

“Don’t worry about it we’ll talk tomorrow. I love you, my sweet girl .” She bit back a sob not wanting to shed tears over something that seemed so small and silly. 

“I love you too.” 

When Karui woke up she groaned feeling the stiffness in her shoulders and arms. She’d really gone for it last night while training and now she was feeling it. Hopefully, Chouji would be willing to massage her strained muscles. Not feeling his arms securely around her when she woke made her heart drop. He hadn’t mentioned needing to leave early for a mission, although she’d never given him a chance to tell her anything. She just hoped that he didn’t leave early to avoid her. 

Refusing to dwell on it any longer she went about preparing for her day. She’d planned to meet with his mom again this morning to help with something or other, honestly though it just seemed that the Akimichi matriarch wanted to spend time with her future daughter in law as she so affectionately called her. 

“Good morning beautiful.” She looked up seeing Chouji standing at the entryway with a tray of food. She was thankful that he was still home.

“I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed.” He explained placing the tray on their bedside table and ushering her back to bed. 

“That’s sweet Cho but I have to go see your mom.” She knew that she’d understand but she was using her as an excuse so that she didn’t have to talk about uncomfortable feelings and her behavior.

He just smiled at her in response. “Already took care of it. Your schedule is cleared for the day, your only job is to hang out with me. It’s actually a mission you’re assigned to, you can call the Hokage’s office if you’d like.”

“Are you serious?”

He just grinned in response. “Of course, come relax. I made you a bunch of stuff and tried a Kumogakure recipe too!” he explained placing the tray on her lap.

She had to hand it to him, years or eating different food from all over the world made him a good cook. 

They smiled and laughed through breakfast making the past week of emotional upheaval feel like an old nightmare. He cleared their plates but didn’t make an effort to put them away. 

He took her hands in his. Her honey-colored eyes looked up at him and he could see the worry present and tried to kiss that unease away. He took a deep breath. It always rendered him speechless that she was his.

“Karui, I’m sorry. I haven’t been very present these last few weeks between the mission and coming home. I also haven’t really thanked you enough for everything that you’ve done and do for me. I guess with everything that’s happened recently with you moving here I kind of just went through the motions of it all. Never really showing you how much I appreciate you for choosing to leave your home to come here to live with me. I don’t know that I could ever thank you enough for that sacrifice. You’re amazing, you’ve made our house a home, my parents and the clan love you and you’ve done all of this without a complaint. I can’t tell you enough how much I love and appreciate you.”

“Cho...I’m sorry too. I guess that I was just feeling ...jealous and a little insecure about that girl.” She had to bite back the bile in the back of her throat at admitting her human weaknesses. 

“I hadn’t seen you in a week and when you came back you immediately started telling me all about this amazing shinobi and the food that she made. It made me feel like you didn’t miss me at all.” And here was the root of the emotional roller coaster. Moving to Konoha had clearly affected her more than she thought and this conversation made her realize how much she did miss her old home. Also, this was the first time while there that he had left and it was hard figuring out her place in the village. It left her feeling untethered and she needed a strong and secure foundation to identify who she was. If this girl could fill that role for him what part did she play, what was a shinobi without a job or mission? 

Chouji felt his heartbreak seeing the unshed tears in her eyes. His girl never cried and here she was on the brink because he was insensitive. He always prided himself on being observant and understanding the emotions of others, but here she was. She was the most important person in his life, and he’d brought her to this point. He gathered her into his arms clutching her tightly to his chest. 

“I’m sorry Karui, I never meant to make you feel like that. Of course, I missed you, being away from you felt like hell. I hated it and I think that my squad did too because I kept complaining about how much I’d rather have been home with you than out on a mission with them. And in regards to her, yes the food she makes is good but it can’t compare to what you make for me. When you cook it’s like you’re writing a love letter to me. I can almost feel how much you love and care about me with each bite. Trust me, there’s nothing anyone can make me that can compare to how it feels when I eat something you so carefully made for me. Besides, it’s not just about the fact that you can make such incredible food. You do so much for me and I’m so thankful every day that you chose me to love. I’m the luckiest person in all the five great nations. I love you so much, my sweet girl.”

She sighed into his chest feeling that weight lift off her shoulders. 

“Thank you Chouji.”

“Thank you, really I do appreciate everything you've done. I have a quick trip planned for us to Kumogakure in two weeks. I talked to Omoi and Samui and it’s all set up.”

“Chouji! We can’t just leave like that. You have responsibilities here.”

“You are my first and foremost responsibility and I haven’t been here for you. This will be good for both of us.”

She sighed but nodded. It would be really nice to go back for a little. “Thank you Chouji. Really, I appreciate it.” He kissed her forehead in response. 

“I want you to be happy here, and I’d never want you to regret moving here for me.”

“I never would, you’re my home.” As uncomfortable as this whole situation got, in a way she was thankful for it. She realized that she was more than just his girlfriend and homemaker. She was a member of the village, a part of the Akimichi clan, practically a daughter in law. She had friends and was still a talented and capable kunoichi. She had a role and a part to play in his life and in the village, her home.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> You ever do something nice for people and you don't feel appreciated? That. Appreciate the people in your lives and everything they do for you! Sai and Ino are up next. That one I have a general plotline but I've gotta force myself to write it out. Thanks again for stopping by!
> 
> *Till the next one!


End file.
